So participants rushed forward to claim resource buoys scattered around the arena. These bright orange floats sat anchored to the basin floor, awarding additional points to whoever maintained proximity for a set period. Others tested the waters, sending smaller ships out in picket lines to scout. Talia Moor's Gravehold flotilla swiftly vanished behind a swirl of cloaking technology. Gareth Flynn's Serpentstone heavies rumbled out in a block formation, seemingly unstoppable. Starcrest's representatives advanced in pairs. Pillen's novices hung back, hoping to avoid an early exit. anwhile, Slatemark academy's kids boasted gold-liveried warships but hadn't all left the docking area yet, presumably perfecting last-minute calibrations.
Cecilia wasted no ti. She directed her corvettes to snag a resource buoy near the eastern quadrant. That done, she guided the Radiant Sovereign and its imdiate escorts in a northern sweep, scanning for potential easy kills. She wanted to build points quickly, ensuring she had a comfortable lead by the ti she faced heavier opposition. With crisp efficiency, she hamred a small grouping from Pillen, forcing two corvettes to retreat in smoke. She gleaned so initial kills. On the scoreboard—hidden from her view, but shown to the audience—Cecilia's na soared. The watchers roared in excitent, seeing Slatemark's unstoppable star gather montum.
Ian, on the southwestern side, advanced at a asured pace. His Draconis Spear ford the apex of a wedge with the destroyer and frigate at the center, and corvettes on each side. He captured one resource buoy unchallenged. Then he spied an opening: Talia Moor's stealth ships, believed dangerous, had ventured too close. In a swift engagent, he pinned them down, saturating the area with crossfire. Talia's stealth advantage wasn't enough to hide from multiple angles. The scoreboard displayed that two Gravehold vessels were crippled. Chatter in the stands soared—Ian had pulled ahead with kills.
All around, smaller fights erupted. So novices from Pillen or Starcrest collided with each other in chaotic brawls. The watery surface soon littered with drifting tal, so vessels half-subrged, others fully scuttled. The crowd cheered or groaned each ti a major participant scored a kill. The scoreboard, though not visible to the students, flickered constantly for watchers, awarding points for each success.
Midway through the event's allocated ti, it beca obvious that the two unstoppable presences from Mythos overshadowed the rest. The bigger question was if they'd et directly. Talia Moor from Gravehold was limping after repeated hits. Gareth Flynn from Serpentstone had so success but was stuck in a drawn-out siege with a Slatemark group. Another cluster from Starcrest scuffled with novices near the center. anwhile, both Cecilia and Ian seed unstoppable, each systematically carving out sections of the battlefield, taking resource buoys, and stacking hidden points.
Finally, it happened. Near the center-south area of the basin, two advanced warship groups spotted each other at about 600 ters apart. Onlookers realized instantly who they belonged to: the black-and-gold Radiant Sovereign plus five support craft on one side, and the black-and-crimson Draconis Spear plus five on the other. The roars from the stands beca deafening, caras swiveling to capture every angle. If there had been illusions or magic, this would be the mont for a dramatic swirl. But in this futuristic setting, all that existed was the cold steel of chanical ships and the steadfast determination of two unstoppable captains.
Cecilia took the initiative. She fired a volley from her destroyer, shells whistling over the water. One near-miss soaked a corvette from Ian's side. Another shell hamred the side of a smaller support ship, forcing it to break formation. She followed up with a flanking run from her frigate, launching a barrage that battered Ian's corvette. The watchers hollered, seeing that unstoppable aggression in action. But Ian responded quickly, ordering the Draconis Spear to deliver a punishing broadside into one of Cecilia's corvettes. The corvette reeled from multiple blasts, half its compartnts locked by flooding.
Thus began a swirling, chaotic engagent. Each side's corvettes darted around, searching for vantage points or angles to launch torpedoes. The heavier ships—Cecilia's destroyer, Ian's frigate, or vice versa—unleashed repeated shellfire that churned the water in frothy eruptions. So novices in the area fled, not wishing to be collateral damage in the unstoppable pair's fight. Talia Moor, limping away from earlier losses, retreated entirely rather than face them. Gareth Flynn remained pinned by Slatemark's other group. And so the southwestern center zone beca a private stage for a duel that overshadowed the entire competition.
Cecilia pivoted the Radiant Sovereign, main turrets rotating to aim at the Draconis Spear's port side. She hissed instructions into a comm, ensuring her destroyer hamred Ian's frigate while her corvettes harassed the Draconis Spear's starboard. But Ian saw an opening: his corvettes feigned a retreat, luring one of Cecilia's corvettes out of position. Then the Draconis Spear fired a potent salvo that slamd the overextended corvette's hull. Water flooded in. tal twisted. The corvette sank within monts, awarding a huge chunk of points to Ian behind the scenes.
The watchers scread in delight at the sight of a major hit. But the scoreboard was hidden from the two participants, so neither knew exactly who led. For her part, Cecilia pressed on with unwavering focus, ignoring the loss as a necessary trade. She hamred Ian's destroyer with combined shellfire from the Radiant Sovereign and her frigate. The destroyer soon belched smoke, forced to power down. Another kill for her, presumably. The water's surface around them littered with drifting debris.
Ti ticked down. They'd both lost multiple ships, battered each other relentlessly, but neither flagship was sunk. The Radiant Sovereign's prow was badly dented, half a turret jamd. The Draconis Spear's starboard was shredded, deck fires raging. In the stands, the audience stood on their feet, so yanking at their hair or biting their nails as the unstoppable duo rained destruction on each other.
Finally, in a last furious exchange, both flagships soared dangerously close. Cecilia unleashed a savage point-blank volley that ripped into the Draconis Spear's engine compartnts, sending sparks flying. The muzzle flash from her cannons lit the watery battlefield in harsh brilliance. Ian reeled at the blow but returned fire, letting off a final broadside that pumled the Radiant Sovereign's mid-deck, smashing part of the superstructure. The watchers collectively sucked in breath, expecting one or both ships to sink. But the event tir beeped across the stadium, signifying the end.
A hush descended. All weapons ceased fire. Drifting in the battered southwestern center were two half-ruined warships, battered beyond recognition yet unbelievably afloat: the Radiant Sovereign and the Draconis Spear. A mont of stunned silence lingered before the stands erupted in cheers that threatened to tear the roof off. Fireworks shot into the sky, painting the daylight with bursts of color.
At last, the scoreboard was allowed to show final results. The giant screen overhead displayed:
1) Cecilia Slatemark
2) Ian Viserion
3) Talia Moor
4) Gareth Flynn
5) Naomi Shea
The crowd roared at the sight, so clapping in triumph, others lanting that Ian ca so close. Students across the stands chanted "Mythos" in deafening unison, proud that their top two overshadowed the entire field. On the southwestern water, the battered Radiant Sovereign signaled for assistance to tow it back, while the Draconis Spear did the sa. Both teenage captains had proven unstoppable forces, and though Ian had lost by a narrow margin, he'd left a mark on Cecilia's unstoppable aura.
Even as paradics and staff hurried to ensure the participants were safe, the scoreboard froze in that final arrangent. The day's victor: the golden-haired, crimson-eyed White-ranker from Mythos Academy, unstoppable in her pursuit of first place. The runner-up: the red-haired, golden-eyed boy who nearly tore her plan to shreds. Around them, the lesser participants quietly returned to the docks or signaled rescue craft. Talia Moor, satisfied with third, limped off with her stealth ships half ruined. Gareth Flynn from Serpentstone found a slight grin in being fourth, overshadowed by bigger fish. Naomi Shea from Starcrest took fifth with a half-smile. The rest—fifty-five nas—were scattered across the lower ranks.
And so Phantom Fleet Command ca to a close at Mythos Academy, ending with the scoreboard blazing that final outco for all to see.
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